Man gets second chance at once in a lifetime eclipse experience

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

It's hard to believe that with all the anticipation over the summer the total solar eclipse is now just one week away. For one man this wait has truly been a long time coming and he's determined to make the most of this big event.

What may look like an old homemade telescope, isn't just some old relic of the past. It's a piece of history, connecting a father and son, to the future.

Bartt Brick was in junior high when he found his grandfather's telescope mirror in his garage. One the man with no formal education had ground himself, in the hopes of building a telescope.

Bartt Brick recalls, "I looked at dad and I said, 'I don't know how to build a telescope.' I was 15. Dad said, 'Well I don't either but hey we are Bricks we can figure this out that's half the fun.'"

Bartt and his dad Gene Brick worked for months to build the masterpice, and set their sights on the Ring Nebula.

"We were up to what two in the morning I think?" Bartt Brick asks his dad. "Yeah," the older Brick replies. "And we finally found it and we were so excited because we knew it would work," Bartt Brick says.

Now they've upgraded to a newer telescope and have their sights set on another astronomical wonder, a total solar eclipse.

The last one passed through the older Brick's area in 1979, but unfortunately Gene didn't get to see it.

"It came all of a sudden on us and I missed it," Gene Brick says.

The older Brick was cutting logs into lumber inside, and had to hear from his coworkers about the wonder he missed outside.

"They were telling me about it," Gene Brick recalls. "I guess night here in the middle of the day."

But the older Brick has no regret, only gratitude.

"Well it was a chance of a lifetime and I'm still in my lifetime," Gene says. "I lived long enough to see this thing and I am really happy for it."

Now at 92, Gene Brick will get a second chance to experience nature's wonder, with four generations in his front yard, and his father in his heart.

"This whole thing should've been done with my dad," Gene says. "Yeah. I hope I can do him justice."

Copyright 2017 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.